Tissues are normally dispensed sequentially from a carton of interleaved folded tissues through a dispensing aperture formed by perforation located on the top face of the tissue carton. As a leading tissue projecting through the aperture is pulled from the carton, a following tissue interleaved with the leading tissue is drawn upward by the dispensing action so that it can be retained by the dispensing membrane which is part of the dispensing aperture of the carton. The repetition of the action of replacing the dispensed tissue with a fresh candidate for later dispensation works well when the tissue box is newly opened. The lead flap of the tissue which protrudes from the carton awaiting dispensation is grasped by the taut dispensing membrane leaving the trailing flap of the tissue at least partly interleavingly engaged with the next tissue so that it can be drawn upward as the next replacement tissue.
As the distance between the top of the tissue carton and the top of the supply stack of interleaved tissues within the carton increases, the interleaving engagement of the trailing flap of the fresh tissue with the next tissue becomes less secure. Frequently, dispensation failure or “fall back” occurs when the lead flap of a tissue falls back into the box from being retained by the aperture dispensing membrane. “Fall back” or “fall out” or “loss of flap” is the term given when the dispensing flap or lead flap of the tissue is not extended through the dispensing opening so that no lead flap is readily available for grasping by the user.
The most common dispensation problem for “fall back” is related to the distance between the top of the tissue supply stack and the carton dispensing opening. The use of larger volume cartons presents a problem as the tissue supply stack lowers within the larger cartons, as the tissue being dispensed must raise the following tissue a greater distance to pull its leading flap through the carton's dispensing membrane. If the height that a tissue must be raised is too great, the tissue being dispensed parts from the following interleaved tissue before the leading flap of the following tissue is raised high enough through the carton aperture for secure holding by the dispensing membrane and “fall back” occurs. The user must then stick their hand through the aperture inside the carton to pull a tissue from the top of the supply stack for dispensation. The insertion of the user's hand into the carton stretches and damages the cartons dispensing membrane which reduces its ability to hold a tissue in the raised position, further increasing the probability of “fall back”. Another problem related to the user sticking their hand inside the carton to remove a tissue is that the user usually pinches several tissues out together which results in wasted tissue and frustration to the user.
The prior art has provided numerous attempts to solve the “fall back” problem in tissue dispensation. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,207,360 to Scott discloses a tissue dispenser with a free-resting control plate that moves up with withdrawal of a tissue and descends down on the trailing end of the next tissue to maintain friction to keep it in an upstanding manner to allow the leading end to be grasped on the next tissue withdrawal. U.S. Pat. No. 3,266,665 to Eakens discloses a tissue dispenser with a free-resting control panel that moves up with withdrawal of a tissue and descends into the box to put frictional pressure on the trailing end of the next tissue to keep it in a standing position. U.S. Pat. No. 3,269,593 to Lodewick et al. shows a drop-back panel that rests on the top of the tissue stack. U.S. Pat. No. 3,473,694 to Murphy et al. discloses a tissue dispenser with a depending serving flap that has one side attached to the top of the carton and its free end movable to rest on the supply stack. U.S. Pat. No. 3,606,082 to Kuchenbecker discloses a tissue dispenser with a follower-like control member having an upper sheet member attached to the top of the container and a lower sheet member that is suspended from it and hangs down onto the top of the tissue stack. U.S. Pat. No. 3,994,417 to Boedecker discloses a towelette dispenser with a movable barrier with a narrow aperture that moves upward on withdrawal of a towelette and descends back down on top of the towelette roll as it is used. U.S. Pat. No. 5,540,354 to Annand discloses a tissue dispenser with a free-resting internal control plate that is intended to maintain the trailing end of the next tissue in an upright condition and maintain a guiding friction on the tissues as they are dispensed. U.S. Pat. No. 7,273,156 to Gao et al. discloses a tissue dispenser where a top portion is telescoped over a bottom portion of the container such that it moves downward as the tissue stack is drawn down and keeps the dispenser opening within a small distance from the top of the stack of tissues.
However, the proposed solutions of the prior art in general are mechanically complicated and susceptible to misalignment or failure, and also are formed within the carton at the time of manufacture and not adapted for convenient retrofit to existing cartons. The present invention seeks to provide a tissue dispensing device for facilitating tissue dispensation that is simple in construction and not susceptible to misalignment or failure, while also being adaptable for convenient retrofit to existing cartons.